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I have been analysing what I feel when flying my FW Soul and I wanted to ask you something.

When the wind starts to pick up a little (say 9-10 Km/h) the Soul starts pulling strong and I cannot get it to empty the sail and I can almost do nothing but fly around and do turns.I try to give loads of slack. But as much as I throw my arms forwards, jump and or run towards it, the lines are always tense. I alternatively also try to pull it hard towards me but it barely does anything.

I was thinking perhaps my bridle was making the kite point too much straight up and so no wind can easily escape. But I checked the bridle lengths and they are according to the original.I though of modifying it to make the nose point a little more towards me, but I'm not sure I want to start messing with it...

Also I have the feeling that this has become more apparent ever since I repaired the split LS. I feel as though the extra weight from the repair is changing the balance of the kite.Being a newbie flyer I thought it would be impossible for me to notice anything.But I'm starting to think it is noticeable. (I did put quite a bit of line thread and superglue around the split part, plus some heat-shrink tube. Moreover I did it on both LS's since I wanted to have the kite laterally balanced... although the repair was around the central T...)

The Soul is big kite and can pull quite hard, but it isn't usually a problem until the winds get over 12-14mph (20-25km/h). I would have thought 9-10 km/h ( 7-8mph) would be nicely in the 'sweet spot'.

Sorry to ask the obvious stupid question, but are you using the adjustments on the uphaul line? The Soul has a large range of adjustment for 'angle of attack' - AoA - to adjust the sails ability to spill wind. On mine there are 6 adjustment knots measured at, from the frame - 7,9,11,13,15,17 cm - ( I think this is standard but my kite was secondhand and modified so it may be different). In 'normal' winds -8-12mph - I normally use the 11 or maybe 13cm knot. 7 & 9 cm knots are for low wind down to 4mph, 15& 17 cm knots for strong winds up to 16-18mph.

If your kite is pulling too hard you need to reduce the AoA by adjusting the nose away from you - using one of the longer knot settings so in stronger winds I would be using 13,15 or even 17cm depending on the wind strength. It sounds like you have the nose pulled too far forward already and the kite is catching too much wind.

My bridle settings are:

Uphaul 54cm ( on the 11cm knot)outhaul 56cminhaul 63cmturbo 9.5cm

As for the spreader, a small difference in weight can make a difference, especially in something like the fade position. If your repaired spreader is still strong, you could always make the same 'repair' to the good side to balance up the weight.

Have patience with the 540! one day you'll just get it and then kick yourself! ....it took me about a year to finally get it - Randy G's video got it for me .......still can't backspin to save my life though

I found some inconsistencies in my measures. Not only with respect to yours but, even worse, from the left and right side of my kite...Also, since I found that in some older post you had given the official FW's measures I checked those are there are also some important differences...

Therefore I have sent an e-mail to Albert from FW's and hopefully he will send me the correct updated measures.When he does, I will post them here to make sure everyone has them (I also asked for the lengths of the stand-offs since I had changed the original sail supports that had broken for some new of the type that have a little screw to fix them on the sail).

I really am shocked that 9-10 kph (5.6-6.2 mph) is being considered high winds here. And I'm an inland flier. I assume we're talking about a standard kite? I would think that would be well towards the lower end for mortals.

I really am shocked that 9-10 kph (5.6-6.2 mph) is being considered high winds here. And I'm an inland flier. I assume we're talking about a standard kite? I would think that would be well towards the lower end for mortals.

I really am shocked that 9-10 kph (5.6-6.2 mph) is being considered high winds here. And I'm an inland flier. I assume we're talking about a standard kite? I would think that would be well towards the lower end for mortals.

OK, I might have exaggerated a bit to make my point, but not that much...Let us put 11-12Km/h it is difficult to empty the sail to do even simple tricks (e.g. half axel, fade, turtle,...)Once it gets to 15Km/h I really can only fly on the edges of the window with difficulties.And if it gets any higher the tips of the wing vibrate violently as the kite flies sideways, especially as I cross the central power zone. At the edge the wind flips the kite over every time I try a trick and I get my lines twisted around the tip of the wing...

Indeed, I had also found these references (one of them is mine!)However, since I found some inconsistencies between some measures and differences in the pigtails of the uphaul (both in quantity and in measures) I decided to make sure everything was verified and updated with the manufacturer.

Hope this helps. All measurements were taken from the front surfaces of the spars. I included the upper pigtail as part of the Uphaul measurement. Mine is sitting on the second knot down.Keep in mind this could change with wind speed. More wind and you should lower this setting.(AoA)

Norm, I see you have the uphaul in the second pigtail as opposed to the third as I do.This would make the nose of your Soul point more towards you and hence have a stronger pull, correct?So I don't understand why I'm having these issues...

What bugs me is that at first I thought it was me being a lousy pilot.But ever since I bought the new Talon UL I have noticed how smoothly it flies even in its upper wind limit.This is NOT the feeling I get with the Soul at all. And this makes me a bit sad and angry at the same time...

Do you know the exact wind speed? Are you using a anemometer? If your wing tips are shuttering I would say you're flying above the wind speed for the Soul. The manufacturer listthe recommended wind speed for the Soul at 3-20mph, but don't believe it.

Hi Norm.Yes, I do have an anemometer: Skywatch Explorer2This is why I'm talking about precise amounts.For example yesterday I was flying at around 10-12Km/h and it was difficult to give slack.I was almost pulling my arms out of my shoulder joint.It then went up to 15-19Km/h and the kite was really pulling me so I could only fly in circles, forget about trying any tricks.Finally I packed up when the gusts were going up to 20-22Km/h...

But, in any case this would still be under 14mph !Really far from the theoretical 20mph !!!!

This is correct, but the noticeable difference in pull would be minimal for us less experienced pilots. It doesn't really matter how many knots or the distance between each knot on the pigtail exist. Be sure the total distances are correct. From everything I see the differences between Steve's, Mine, and Albert's are minimal. Using any of our three measurements would work just fine.

This is what I would have thought but apparently we're flying different beasts with the same name...

Shot in the dark: I have no idea what would happen if you were using the shorter outside stand-offs in higher wind. You might want to check and see which ones you have installed. My kite flys great with the bridle measurements I have on the picture. Do you have yours set in turbo or 3-point? Maybe it's time for a Vented Talon. By all means, keep me posted.

I am flying with the longer stand-offs.Originally my Soul came with the shorter ones as a default (really strange) and I couldn't fly it as a newbie. The kite kept going into a turtle and I could not control it.So I changed to the long ones and I started flying OK.

I do have the turbo bridle configuration. This is what I have:

Stand-offs, from sail to lower spreader: 27cm (26.5cm from sail to tip of stand-off)Bridle:

One more thing.The doughnut-shaped weight on the lower end of the spine has also become loose and I don't know where it should be placed.I try to keep it touching the lower T but it often moves up the spine between 3-5cm.

My stand-offs are both 26cm from sail to top of vinyl cap. Soul Specs. say 25.5cm..........Looks all good to me.

I will cut away the extra 1cm from mine to make sure this is not affecting.In fact they do take a bit of effort getting into the LS connectors since I changed the sail connectors from the original to those that have a little screw.

I will also correct the pigtails on the upperhaul.

Let us see if tweaking here and there manages to get the kite back in tune...

Thanks for your interest and patience Norm.

BTW, what about the tail weight? What is yours like and where is it placed?Thanks

It really sounds like the kite is overpowering badly, What kind of field are you flying on? If it is partly sheltered could it be that the wind you are measuring at ground level is a lot less than the wind at 25m?

I really wouldn't get the hacksaw out and start cutting things yet!...1cm on a standoff isn't going to make that much difference to the kites pull.

Although your bridle measurements are more or less the same as mine, the amount of adjustment you have on the uphaul pigtails is rather different. I would suggest that you make up a set of pigtails with the same knot spacing as I posted at the beginning of the thread. You can put them side by side with your existing ones to try them out. They should give you much more adjustment for higher wind as it will you another 4.5cm of adjustment. Mine flies fine from around 4/5mph into mid teens before the LE's start to shake.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that there was a revised version of the Soul brought out after the original with a few changes but I don't know what they were.

Try the pigtails, it can't do any harm and I'm sure you'll find it better - your maximum wind adjustment is still in my midrange.

I'm not sure... since when I started with it I was coming from the Prism Nexus which was a real difference... I was really a newbie...However, I would say it pretty much has always done that...

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It really sounds like the kite is overpowering badly, What kind of field are you flying on? If it is partly sheltered could it be that the wind you are measuring at ground level is a lot less than the wind at 25m?

I have flown everywhere: beach, inland urban, inland rural...For example, what I was describing a few posts ago was on the beach with the wind coming from the sea. So no possible obstacles in the way. Of course wind could change anyway depending on height but I think the measurements were quite correct.

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I really wouldn't get the hacksaw out and start cutting things yet!...1cm on a standoff isn't going to make that much difference to the kites pull.

However, the 3cm of the short outer stand-offs do make a difference, so I think I will cut them.

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Although your bridle measurements are more or less the same as mine, the amount of adjustment you have on the uphaul pigtails is rather different. I would suggest that you make up a set of pigtails with the same knot spacing as I posted at the beginning of the thread. You can put them side by side with your existing ones to try them out. They should give you much more adjustment for higher wind as it will you another 4.5cm of adjustment. Mine flies fine from around 4/5mph into mid teens before the LE's start to shake.

OK, I'll buy some bridle line and make the new pigtails

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I seem to remember reading somewhere that there was a revised version of the Soul brought out after the original with a few changes but I don't know what they were.

Yes, you told me that in another post or PM. This is why I decided to ask Albert Chen, just in case there IS a difference.

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Try the pigtails, it can't do any harm and I'm sure you'll find it better - your maximum wind adjustment is still in my midrange.

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